Thread cleaner



H. J. HUFFORD THREAD CLEANER Filed Oct. 14, 1957 2 sheets sheet l miw Harfg ff 3 h): swap Jan. 31, 1939. J. HUFFQRD 2,145,624

THREAD CLEANER Filed Oct. 14, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 31, 1939 THREAD CLEANER Harry J. Hufford, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Franklin S. Miles, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application October 14, 1937, Serial No. 169,015

8 Claims. (01. 28--70) The invention relates to an improved thread cleaner for use on such machines as winders, reelers, redraw machines, quilling machines, etc.

One object of the invention is to provide novel cleaning members having concavely curved sides toward which the thread travels on a path sub stantially radial to said curved sides, causing any slubs or the like on the thread to draw toward the crest of the curvature instead of having any tendency to move the threads out of engagement with the cleaning members, the curvature of these members also providing them with thread-cleaning portions which are longer than they would be if straight.

A further object is to provide cleaning members which may be interchanged with each other and may be longitudinally reversed, providing each of said members with four cleaning edges which may be successively used as wear takes place,

providing for unusually long life.

A still further object is to provide a novel construction in which, although each cleaning member is secured by a single screw, this screw will not cant said cleaning member out of. its proper position while it is being tightened.

Yet another object is to provide novel means for mounting the cleaning members on a traverse bar or similar support.

With the foregoing and minor objects in view,

the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, descrip tion being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view through the traverse bar of a winder showing an edge view of the cleaning device mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the thread guide, however, being in section.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation showing a slightly different form of the invention mounted upon the usual thread guide supporting bar of a redraw machine.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view through the bar and an edge elevation of the cleaner shown in Fig. 6.

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively an edge view and a top plan View showing another form of cleaner.

Figs. 10 and 11 are perspective views of the cleaning members used in the construction shown by Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 12 is. a perspective, view showing a still further variation in which the two cleaning members are integrally joined at one end.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing a modified supporting frame of somewhat different construction from that disclosed in Figs. 1 to 5.

Preferred features of construction have been illustrated in the drawings and will be rather specifically described, with the understanding, however, that variations may be made within the scope of the invention as claimed. 10

In Figs. 1 to 5, l5 denotes a horizontally elongated inclined plate having trunnions 16 at its lower corners, said trunnions being turnably received in wire coils ll of a frame Hi to engage a traverse bar or the like 19, the two thread- 35 cleaning fingers 29. being secured to and projecting from said plate I5 and being, therefore, properly positionable with regard to the thread 2|, by swinging said plate about said trunnions.

The frame 18 is formed from a single length 20 of wire, this wire being bent between its ends to form a U 22 to lie at the front side of the bar [9. At the ends of this U, the end portions of the wire are bent to provide the coils ll, said end portions of the wire being then extended lat- 25 erally in the same direction from said coils as shown at 23, to extend transversely over said bar IS. The end portions of the wire are then bent downwardly to provide arms 24 to lie at the rear side of the bar [9, and the wire is further bent 30 to provide fingers 25 at the lower ends of said arms 24, said fingers being adapted to hook under said bar I9. This construction provides a onepiece wire frame to straddle thebar i 9, there being an arched portion at each end of said frame. 35 Each of these arched portions includes one of the coils H, and leg portions to engage the front and rear sides of bar la, the front leg portions being provided by the side members of the U 22, and the rear leg portions being formed by the 40 arms 24. The front leg portions, both formed by the U 22, normally diverge downwardly from the rear leg portions as shown in Fig. 5, the coils ll being then somewhat expanded. However, when the frame [8 is applied to the bar I9, a screw 45,

toward; which said. thread. travels, each surface 55 2'! being concavely curved in the direction of its length and being straight at right angles to its direction of curvature. The inner thread-engaging edges 28 of the fingers 20 are fiat and parallel, and the outer longitudinal edges 29 of said fingers are also fiat and parallel. These fingers are secured to the plate I5 by clamping screws 30, both ends of said fingers being provided with openings 3I through any of which said screws 38 may pass, said screws being threaded into openings 32 in the plate I5. By being able to fasten either end of either finger 20 to the plate I5, and by providing a securing means which permits said fingers to be interchanged, unusually long life is provided for, there being four available thread-cleaning surfaces on each of said fingers, two at the opposite ends of the edge 28 and two at the opposite ends of the edge 29.

The plate I5 is provided with two spaced bearing surfaces 33 disposed at opposite sides of its opening 32 and curved for contact with the concave sides 21 of the fingers 29. By providing these bearing surfaces spaced from the axis of the clamping screws 39, the latter may be tightened with extreme tightness without any danger of canting the fingers 20 about the axes of said screws 30 and moving said fingers out of parallel relation with each other.

Between the outer curved side of each finger 20 and the head of the screw 30, a curved clamping plate 34 is preferably provided, and I also prefer to employ a washer 35 between said head and said clamping plate, as shown in Fig. 5. This provides for tight clamping without danger of slippage. When either screw 30 is loosened, a gauge of desired thickness may be placed between the two fingers 20. Then, while holding these fingers against opposite sides of the gauge, the screw is again tightened, thereby quickly and easily setting the fingers in the desired spaced relation. These fingers may be positioned properly with respect to the path of the thread 2!, by swinging the plate I5 upon its trunnions I6, said fingers being positioned so that the thread travels substantially radially of the curved finger sides 21. These curved sides tend to draw any slubs or the like on the thread, toward the crest of the curvature and thus tend to hold the thread properly engaged with the fingers, instead of having any tendency to disengage said thread from said fingers. Moreover, the threadcontacting surfaces of the fingers are longer due to their curvature, than they would be if straight.

A very simple, easily adjusted and efficient cleaner is provided when following the construction above described, and said cleaner may be quickly and easily attached to a traverse bar or the like I9, and adjusted as required. Substantially all of the weight of the cleaner is directed down upon the traverse bar I9 or other support, therefore having no torsional or twisting action thereon. While suitable thread guides 36 may be carried by the front portion of this bar, the tendency of these guides to forwardly twist or tilt said bar, may be effectively counter-balanced by having the center of mass of the various thread cleaners somewhat rearward of a central plane through said bar, producing a well balanced structure with no tendency to warp said bar.

In Figs. 6 and '7, cleaning fingers 20 are secured by clamping screws 38* to the upturned end I5 of a horizontal plate 31, the connection between said fingers 20 and the plate end I5 being identical with the connections above described between the fingers 20 and the plate I5. The plate 31 is received snugly in a U-shaped portion 38 which is bent laterally from a vertically elongated plate 39, the ends of this plate being provided with guides 40 for guiding the thread passing between the fingers 20 A single screw 4I passes through the U-shaped plate portion 38 and the horizontal plate 31 for tightly securing these parts together and for securing the entire assemblage to a horizontal bar or the like I9 which may be considered as a well known part of a redraw machine. The plate 39 may be of the configuration shown in Fig. 6 or of other desired shape, and it may be provided with suitable openings 42 for giving access to the screws 30*. These screws and the screws 30 are all preferably of a type which can be turned only by the insertion of a proper key into a socket 43.

In Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, curved cleaners 20 are shown, said cleaners being provided at their outer edges with projecting stubs 44, said stubs being secured by screws 45 in tranverse V-shaped grooves 46 formed in the arms 41 of a bifurcated supporting plate 48. The openings 49 in the arms 41, through which the screws 45 pass, receive said screws with sufiicient looseness to permit any required adjustment of the cleaners 20 toward or from each other.

In Fig. 12, two cleaning fingers 20 are shown integrally joined to each other at one end. Obviously these connected fingers could be attached either to the plate I5 or to the plate portion I5 In Fig. 13, I disclose an attaching frame similar to the frame I8. However, instead of providing the lower ends of the arms Z I with hooks, I provide said ends with eyes 25 to receive screws or the like. -The U-shaped portion 22 of the frame is to be held by a screw such as 26, above described, and the coils I! are intended to frictionally hold trunnions such as those above described with the aid of the character I6.

As excellent results have been obtained from features of construction herein described, they may well be followed. However, attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:-

1. A thread cleaning device comprising two fingers between which the thread passes, the sides of said fingers toward which the thread travels being concavely curved longitudinally and being transversely straight, a supporting member for said fingers, said supporting member having spaced convexly curved bearing surfaces contacting with longitudinally spaced portions of said concavely curved sides of said fingers, and threaded, fasteners between said spaced bearing surfaces and securing said fingers to said supporting member.

2. In a thread cleaner, a support having alined trunnions, supporting means having bearings in which said trunnions are turnably received and frictionally held, and two thread-cleaning fingers secured to said support and projecting therefrom, said fingers extending in directions transverse to the axis of said trunnions.

3. A thread cleaning device to overlie a supporting bar, said device having trunnions to extend longitudinally of said bar, a wire frame to straddle said bar, said wire frame having arched portions provided with coils turnably and frictionally holding said trunnions, the leg portions of said arched portions being adapted for disposition at the front and rear sides of said bar, and means for securing said frame on said bar.

4. A thread cleaning device to overlie a supporting bar, said device having trunnions to extend longitudinally of said bar, a wire frame to straddle said bar, said wire frame having arched portions provided with coils turnably and frictionally holding said trunnions, the leg portions of said arched portions being adapted for disposition at the front and rear sides of said bar, and means for securing the front and rear leg portions against said bar, said front and rear leg portions being normally disposed in downwardly diverging relation with each other, whereby said coils will be tightly contracted around said trunnions when said front and rear leg portions are swung inwardly toward each other.

5. In a thread cleaner, a vertically elongated plate having a laterally bent U-shaped portion between its ends and thread guides at said ends, thread-cleaning means having a horizontal carrying plate snugly received in said U-shaped portion, and a fastener passing through said U- shaped portion and said plate for attaching the entire device to a support.

6. A thread cleaning device comprising two elongated thread cleaning fingers between which the thread passes, the sides of said fingers toward which the thread travels being concavely curved longitudinally, both the inner and the outer longitudinal edges of said fingers being fiat and parallel, said fingers being so shaped that they may be interchanged to cause their unworn outer edges to replace their inner edges when the latter have become worn, said longitudinally curved sides being straight transversely of said fingers from edge to edge of the latter to cooperate originally with said inner edges and to later cooperate with said outer edges when the fingers are interchanged; a support, and means for interchangeably securing said fingers to said support and for operatively relating said fingers whether they occupy their original positions or be interchanged.

'Z. A thread cleaning device comprising two elongated thread cleaning fingers between which the thread passes, the sides of said fingers toward which the thread travels being concavely curved longitudinally, both the inner and the outer edges of said fingers being flat and parallel, said curved sides and said inner and outer edges all extending from end to end of said fingers and said curved sides being transversely straight from edge to edge of said fingers, whereby if said fingers be interchanged, or longitudinally reversed, or both, unworn portions of said edges, in operative relation with said curved sides, may be presented for contact with the thread; a support, and means for reversibly and interchangeably securing said fingers to said support and for operatively relating said fingers whether they occupy their original positions or be interchanged, reversed, or both.

8. In a thread cleaner, thread cleaning means having alined trunnions adapting it for pivotal adjustment with respect to the thread, and two stationarily mounted wire coils in which said trunnions are turnably received, said coils being tightly contracted around said trunnions to frictionally hold the latter and to thereby hold said cleaning means after said pivotal adjustment.

HARRY J. HUFFORD. 

